Mark 9

₁Jesus talked to his disciples and the people and He said: ‘I tell you this and it is sure: Some people who are standing here now will see that God is King. They will see it before they die.’

₂After 6 days Jesus told Peter, James and John to go with Him to a high mountain. There were no other people with them. The 3 disciples looked at Jesus and then He started to change and He looked different. ₃His clothes were bright and very white. No one on earth could make them so white. ₄Elijah and Moses appeared to them and they talked to Jesus. ₅Peter said to Jesus: ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Can we make 3 shelters, one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah?’

₆Peter did not know what to say because he and the other 2 disciples were afraid. ₇There was a cloud that came over them and they heard God speaking from the cloud. He said: ‘This is my Son. I love Him. You must do what He says.’ ₈When the 3 disciples looked again, they saw only Jesus, and no one else. ₉Jesus and his disciples came down from the mountain and Jesus told them not to tell anyone what they had seen. They could tell other people after Jesus, the Son of man, had risen and started to live again. ₁₀The disciples obeyed Jesus but they talked to each other and they thought about what it meant to ‘rise and to live again.’

₁₁The disciples asked Jesus: ‘Why do the teachers_of_the_Laws say that Elijah must come before the Messiah will come?’ ₁₂Jesus told them: ‘Elijah must first come to prepare everything for the Messiah. But why did the prophets write that I, the Son of man, would suffer and that the people would do bad things to Me? ₁₃I tell you: Elijah has already come and the people did all the bad things to him that they wanted to do. It happened just like the prophets wrote.’

₁₄Then Jesus and the 3 disciples went back to the other disciples. They saw a big crowd of people around the other disciples. The teachers_of_the_Laws were arguing with the disciples. ₁₅When the people saw Jesus, they were surprised. They ran to Him and they greeted Him. ₁₆Jesus asked the teachers_of_the_Laws: ‘Why are you arguing with my disciples?’

₁₇One person in the crowd answered and said: ‘Teacher, I brought my son to You because there is an evil_spirit in him and now he can not talk. He is mute. ₁₈When the evil_spirit comes into the boy, it makes him fall onto the ground. Then there is foam that comes out of his mouth, he bites on his teeth and his body becomes stiff. I have asked your disciples to chase_out_the_evil_spirit but they can not do it.’ ₁₉Jesus said to them: ‘You do not believe Me. How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to be patient with you? Bring the boy to Me.’

₂₀They brought the boy to Jesus. When the evil_spirit saw Jesus, he immediately made the boy fall onto the ground. His body started to shake all over. He started to roll on the ground and foam came out of his mouth. ₂₁Jesus asked the boy's father: ‘How long has he been like this?’ The father said: ‘It started when he was a baby. ₂₂Often the evil_spirit made him fall into a fire or in the water. The evil_spirit wants to kill him. Please feel sorry for him and help us if You can.’ ₂₃Jesus asked the father: ‘Why do you say: “If you can?” If a person believes, then God can do anything for him.’ ₂₄Immediately the boy's father said loudly: ‘Please help me to believe in You.’

₂₅When Jesus saw that more and more people were coming to them, He rebuked the evil_spirit and said to him: ‘You are a spirit that makes people deaf and mute. I command you: Go out of the boy and never come back.’ ₂₆The evil_spirit shouted_loudly and he made the boy shake and kick. Then the spirit went out of the boy. It looked as if the boy had died and the people said he was dead. ₂₇Jesus took the boy's hand and He helped him to stand up. ₂₈Jesus went home and when his disciples were alone with Him, they asked Him: ‘Why could we not chase_out_that_evil_spirit?’ ₂₉Jesus answered them: ‘You can only chase_out_these_evil_spirits when you pray to God.’

₃₀Jesus and his disciples went away from there to the province of Galilee. Jesus did not want the people to know where they were ₃₁because He was teaching his disciples. He said: ‘I am the Son of man and God will give Me to the people so that they can kill Me. But after 3 days I will rise and live again.’

₃₂The disciples did not understand what Jesus said and they were afraid to ask Him what his words meant.

₃₃Jesus and his disciples went into the town of Capernaum. When Jesus came into the house, He asked his disciples: ‘What did you talk about on your way here? Why did you argue?’ ₃₄They did not answer Jesus, because while they walked, they were arguing about who was the most important. ₃₅Then Jesus sat down. He called his 12 disciples and He told them: ‘If someone wants to be the most important, then he must be like a slave and serve everyone.’

₃₆Jesus asked a child to stand in front of them and He took the child in his arms and He said to his disciples: ₃₇‘If someone welcomes one of my children, he welcomes Me. And if you welcome Me, then you welcome my Father who sent Me.’

₃₈John said to Jesus: ‘Teacher, we saw someone using your name to chase_demons out of people. We tried to stop him because he does not follow You with us.’ ₃₉But Jesus said: ‘You should not stop him. If someone uses my name to do a miracle, then he will not change soon and say bad things about Me. ₄₀If he is not against us, then he helps us. ₄₁If anyone gives you a cup of water because you belong to Christ, then God will bless him. This is sure.’

₄₂Jesus said: